Macross Frontier Ace of Spades
by darkjedi5646
Summary: AU. Another SMS VF-25 squadron battles the Vajra threat to Macross Frontier. Original characters. Macross Frontier is property of Shoji Kawamori and Studio Nue. Has a 75% chance of discontinuing...
1. Chapter 1

I pulled back on the stick, hoping to get this annoying bogey of my tail. Without a split-second of hesitation, my aircraft sharply angled its nose upward and toward the opposite direction.

The VF-25 _Messiah_ was the epitome of variable fighter design that had roots dating back to the swing-wing F-14 Tomcat and the venerable VF-0 – the very first variable fighter to be developed. This stunning piece of machinery is essentially similar to the F-14, except that it tucked a large gun pod under its fuselage and has notable lack of horizontal stabilizers. To make up for the missing tailplanes, its tailfins slanted outward in addition to similarly oriented ventral fins. Instead of the conventional turbojet engines, the VF-25 used two thermonuclear thrusters that produced a brain-jarring amount of boost. For space flight, a 'Super Pack' is equipped to provide additional thrusters for more maneuverability and speed.

I came face-to-face with what seemed like a large golden mechanical cross between a stag beetle and a hammerhead shark coming at me at break-neck speeds. But instead of wings and six legs, it had a long glowing tail that probably acted as its propulsion. I groaned as I jerked the stick to the left, avoiding a collision. Before I could loop around, I felt an explosion behind me. I wasn't my aircraft – no alarms were screaming – so I hoped that it was one of 'them'.

"Oi, Lockhede, you're getting slow," said Leon. He was being as obnoxious as ever.

"Not as slow as you! Heads up!" He was able to stop just as two bugs almost cut his aircraft in two. His fighter transformed into what looked like a knight – except that it was much leaner, had a helmet with two "antennae" sticking out of the sides and a green visor over its 'eyes.' It held a large Gatling gun on one hand and a small shield mounted on the forearm of the other. The thermonuclear thrusters now formed the legs and the forward fuselage formed the torso. The wings and rear fuselage folded behind. He aimed and gunned down one of the two.

"That's for trying to get me!" said Leon, cocky as ever. I rolled my eyes thinking that this was not the time to pop his over-inflated head.

I boosted in his direction after the second bug. My systems beeped – tracking its movements as it darted back and forth on its seemingly random flight path. I fired, trying to catch it. It looped and rolled, dodging every projectile.

_So__ damn fast..._ I thought. Just then, the beeping changed to a single tone. It was a lock. I let my micro-missiles loose but I have already flown too many times to know not to rely on them, especially against an enemy this agile.

It dodged the first few with its unpredictable maneuvers then released what seemed to be their equivalent of electronic countermeasures. None of my missiles got through. I let loose another wave of 30-mm shells, again hoping that at least one might stun it long enough. Fortunately this time, not one, but a few landed on their mark. Apparently these things can't multitask well. I finally got the break I needed and fired multiple salvos at it. About time it went down... or up... or... Outer space can be so confusing.

Suddenly my systems seemed to go crazy, cursing at the unobservant pilot that another one was right at his tail. Judging from the amount of rounds it was trying to bury in my VF-25 I'd say it was one of the 'squad leaders' if that's what they're called. I pushed my engines to full power hoping to put some space between it and me. But my systems continued blaring, indicating that I was not going anywhere away from it.

"Shit!" I cursed as the massive red one – nearly ten times larger than the golden one – came on top of my plane and wrapped its six legs tight around me. It looked like a gigantic scarab beetle with a spike almost as long as its body mounted on its back. I tried transforming to battroid mode but it still held on like a praying mantis clutching a struggling moth.

_Damn it... if this continues..._ I thought.

"Ansel!" I felt shockwaves as Leon, with his conceitedness miraculously gone, riddled the bug with shells. It let go upon the impact of shells. Fortunately my aircraft was not damaged... at least not too heavily. But I had more pressing matters. That thing was going to pay. I drew my own Gatling gun and rushed toward the distracted bug. Before it could react I rammed my gun in what looked like its mouth and opened fire with every round I had left.

"DIE BUG!!" I yelled as it spasmed with every shell I forced down its throat. But it wasn't over yet... before it finally went down it took an almost involuntary swipe at me with its large 'hand'. Busy as I was shoving shells down its head, the claws caught my battroid in the torso, ripping the HUD from my cockpit and sending a large piece of shrapnel deep into my gut. I gritted my teeth in pain as I clutched my bleeding wound. What was left of my opponent was a shorting piece of space junk. Then it dawned on me that it was about to turn into a fireball and I had seconds to get out or be fried. _This day just can't get any worse..._

"Ansel!!" It was Leon's olive-green battroid rushing toward me with an arm extended. With every inch of my will fighting the pain, I instructed my battroid to extend its arm. The last thing I remember was the fireball inches from my cockpit and the sudden impact of Gs.


	2. Chapter 2

"_We are not soldiers, Ansel Lockhede. Death is an accident for us. We won't get a gravestone. Nor will we get a formal funeral._ _Your relatives won't even know how you died. Are you sure you want to join our ranks?"_

"_Yeah, I know. I don't have relatives. They have... are... gone... all of them. I live for no one but myself now... and that is how I plan to die. So I've long accepted that kind of fate."_

_Wait. What? Am I dead already? Jeez that was fast... barely six months since I joined SMS. How pathetic can I be? And to think I still owed someone a drink._

Something bright shone behind my closed eyelids. I figured I could open my eyes a bit. I lifted a hand to block off some of the light. As my eyes adjusted I could make out a human silhouette.

"So have you finally decided that it was morning yet?" I'd recognize that annoying voice anywhere. As my eyes regained their focus I could see that he was dressed in the trademark black SMS jacket over an olive-green button down tee that contrasted heavily with his deep orange – almost reddish – eyes. Although his silver hair was supposed to be straight, it was usually unruly and fell just below his earlobes. Leon Wreuz.

"Morning? I thought I was already in heaven – that is until you came into view."

"You just won't quit with your sarcasm will you?" he chuckled.

"Sarcasm? I was trying to sound nice there." I still could not hide that distinct tone from my voice.

He shrugged. "Well, you could try to sound a bit nicer, especially after I saved your life."

"Oh great... Just yesterday I owed you a drink." I could feel him clearly enjoying that thought. I imagined that his head was inflating again. "And now I owe you my life. That is just swell." My voice was now heavy with cynicism. "Speaking of swelling, is your head getting larger? I'd swear it was twice its normal size just now." Now was the time to deflate it. But evidently he had gotten used to my tone. I figured that everyone in SMS was already used to it as well.

"What?! Really?!" he exclaimed jokingly as he fumbled around his head trying to measure its size. We both laughed.

But mine was cut short by the sharp pain in my chest area. _Wha...? What's with my chest pain? Did a piece of shrapnel pierce my lung as well? When...? Why hadn't I noticed it?_ Before I knew it, I was coughing. As I held up the hand I coughed into I saw that it was red with dark blood. _Internal hemorrhaging... just great..._

"Oi, Ansel! Get a hold of yourself! Oi!" He rushed to the wall phone and yelled, "I need a doctor up here stat!"

I groaned. "What a pain," I tried to say. Pain also shot through my abdomen. _Damn... that coughing opened up my gut again. _I was clutching my stomach – blood also soaking the bandages and seeping through.

"Ansel! Enough. We've talked too much already." I couldn't agree more, but neither could I nod. The pain was clouding my vision. It was getting harder to breathe as my right lung filled with blood and started to collapse. My field of vision was shrinking from the lack of oxygen.

"Stay with me Ansel!" he said before yelling back into the intercom, "Where's that doctor?!"

_Sorry, Leon. My head can't take anymore..._


	3. Chapter 3

"_Hey kid." It was Ryusei Oza's equivalent of a welcome into SMS. "How's your training coming along?"_

"_You don't know?" I said surprised. "Aren't you supposed to know seeing that you're a squadron leader?"_

_He smiled. "Err... Yeah, I am," he replied, although I wasn't sure whether he was honest or just playing around. He was that kind of person who was happy-go-lucky one moment and serious the next. "I wanted to know what you think. The VF-25's a thrill to fly, isn't it?"_

"_Uh... Yeah. But I've seen better," I said sarcastically. _

_He looked at me questioningly, eyebrow raised. "You're kidding..." He shrugged. "But oh well, if that's what you think... rookie." I barely heard the last word but based on the look on his face I figured out the word anyway._

"_What was that?"_

"_What was what?"_

"_You just called me a rookie!"_

"_You are one."_

"_Actually, I won't be one in a few weeks," I bragged. "I'll make sure of it." Bad move… as I would later find out._

"_Oh?" His eyes immediately glowed of sadistic delight. "In that case, I'll be personally training you from now on." With that, he walked past me and headed for the galley. "I'll be seeing you in tomorrow's session," he said. "Let's see if you can rise above rookie now." He laughed – and it sent shivers down my spine. As soon as he was gone, I slapped my forehead. Oh the stupidity..._

_Wait a sec... again? What is with these flashbacks? Am I seriously dead yet?_

A boom abruptly interrupted my thoughts. I opened my eyes only to see emptiness. I scoffed. _So am I dead already? _Apparently this wasn't the case since I could still feel the pain in my chest and abdomen. The sound of rain came flooding in my ears at the realization that my heart was still beating. Then, a flash of light tore across the dark sky, followed almost immediately by a deafening crack then boom. _That strike must have been pretty close._

I have been living on this titanic intergalactic human biosphere all my life, and yet it never ceases to amaze how they artificially simulate weather conditions inside a dome, or project the sky on the dome for that matter. But, unfortunately, it only comes to looking real – in a controlled environment like this the weather never has a devastating effect on anything.

I turned to my left, thinking that there would be something that would be of help to my disoriented mind. Blood-red digits stared back at me from a black digital clock camouflaged against an invisible wall of the unlit room. It was 2:56 in the morning – too early to be up yet too late to be going to sleep. But given that I won't be able to do anything in my condition…

* * *

_Explosions were going off all around me. The emergency countermeasure alarms were screeching in my ear. Salvos of fire crisscrossed from every direction. The blue trails of micro-missiles zipped across my view before abruptly disappearing. Random panicked transmissions over the open channel came in then ended in static. The Vajra were everywhere._

"_What the__ hell is going on...?" I thought out loud._

_On my left, one of the domes of Macross Frontier was drifting away – the bridgeway connecting it to the main dome was nowhere to be seen. It was Island 21. To its left a battle was raging above another dome. Red and yellow streaks darted back and forth as purple vapor trails disappeared one after the other – military planes were being shot down like flies. The only NUNS capital ships I saw were either crippled or in pieces. It was a losing battle... no it was a massacre. There just aren't enough SMS members to make-up for the incompetence of the military._

"_Spade-2, Spade-3! Get over to Frontier! Prevent them from destroying another colony!" Ryuusei ordered._

"_Roger, Spade Lead," I replied over the radio. "Let's go Leon!"_

"_Copy that. I'll fly cover."_

_I banked towards the raging battle above Island 19 and went in full power, squeezing every amount of power from the twin thermonuclear thrusters of my Valkyrie. As I closed in I could see the dome was practically Swiss cheese – and the situation was getting worse. More holes were being blasted by the cannons of the Vajra battleships – much faster than the auto-repair system could handle. Red and yellow streaks were pouring into those holes no doubt causing havoc in the city below._

"_Godammit! How in the world did this happen?!" I blurted out in utter disbelief. "Such a huge swarm..."_

_My thoughts were interrupted by two smaller Vajra after a NUNS VF-171. It was taking hits one after the other no matter how it maneuvered._

"_Leon!"_

"_Way ahead of you!"_

_We each went after one, our shells illuminating the blackness of space. Both were dispatched in no time. But those kills were nothing compared to the size of the swarm that was devastating the Frontier fleet. Alarms suddenly went haywire as two red Vajra came in from above, spraying bullets at our fighters._

"_Break!" I jerked the stick to the left, while Leon climbed sharply. The two bugs followed suit. But as soon as we separated, two smaller ones pulled in behind me. My flight path was now choked by the hailstorm of munitions fire coming from my rear._

"_I'm hit! I'm hit!" came out the radio out of the blue. The voice, it was... no..._

"_Shit! Leon!" But I could not do anything as multiple jolts rocked my plane. Damn... we were getting ripped to shreds. I jettisoned my now-useless Super Pack, and it was immediately blown to bits._

"_Ansel...!" It was followed by a cry that was abruptly cut off by static._

"_LEON!!" Another jolt and explosion signalled that I was hit again. The alarms were deafening now; my HUD filled with red reticules. It was already too much to pay attention to. Then without warning an additional reticule appeared to my right. I realized that it was a stray missile coming straight at my plane – but it was too late. My only reaction was to lift my arms to my face... then – emptiness._


	4. Chapter 4

I found myself sitting up in a flash – eyes wide in horror, breathing heavily and drenched in sweat that felt like ice. It took me a while to regain my senses. I noticed that I was back on the hospital bed. There was still pain in my stomach, probably caused by the strain I put on my injury. But I was deaf to much of the outside world until...

"You just scared the living daylights out of me." It was Leon, on the floor next to an overturned chair. Why didn't I hear him fall? "You've been out for two days now. That must've been one hell of a nightmare," he said as he got up. "Something wrong?"

I held a hand to the right half of my face. "N-No... No, it was nothing," I replied. "It was just a nightmare. Sorry for scaring you."

"It's fine," he said waving off my apology. "You know, I know you well enough to recognize a troubled look."

"I... don't want to talk about it."

"Don't you..."

"I said I don't want to talk about it." I glared at him.

"Alright, alright... Sorry," he said, holding up his hands. He immediately changed the subject. "The doc said that you need a couple more months to recover fully, but you'll be out in two weeks. Unfortunately until you're a hundred percent, you're not flying sorties. Major's orders. Besides, your VF-25's out of commission. Quite a battering it took – you'll just have to see for yourself. It's going to take a while for it to be operational again."

I wasn't even listening anymore. I was grounded – the freedom of flying taken away from me. What in the world was I going to do now?

"Well, you're still to report back to HQ, even if you can't fly yet."

"Was I that easy to read? Wait... I have to what?"

"Knowing someone like you, yeah, you were. And you heard me. You still have to get your ass over to SMS HQ. But hey, look at the bright side. You get more downtime," he said.

"Easy for you to say... I'd rather be flying and fighting."

"By the way, I haven't told you that that was one hell of a kill you did back there. A red one's really hard to kill – even Major Lee has a hard time with those things."

"Yeah, and now take a look at my plane." The cynic me was coming out again. An awkward silence followed my comment. It was only broken by the ring of Leon's phone.

"What is it? ...Understood." He ended the call. "Sorry Ansel, duty calls." He headed for the door. Before he disappeared from my sight, he turned and said, "You get well quick, alright? I can't have my partner on the sidelines sitting idly while I do all the work."

"Get used to it, 'coz I'll be gone a long time," I jokingly told him. With that, he left.

The next couple of weeks went by pretty much the same way. Leon dropped by almost everyday to bring me the daily news, also he usually brought someone else from SMS along. At least it wasn't that boring with Leon around. When I was alone, I would find myself staring at the sky, longing for a chance to get back in my Valkyrie flying missions. I didn't care what the missions were as long as it involved me in my plane going for a spin. That was the experience that liberates me from the pains of my past and the uncertainty of the future. It was just me and my VF-25 in the present. Staying on the ground made me feel uneasy; it made me feel... helpless.

When I finally got out of that hospital bed my body felt like it was rusted. My legs felt like they were made of rubber. _I seriously need a work out. I've been lying down for too long. _Leon was already waiting in a car as I exited the lobby. "That took you long enough," he complained. I ignored the comment.

"Hey Leon, do you think they'd let me borrow an EX-Gear?"

"It _is _your EX-Gear. What for?"

"Oh, I don't know... Workout?"

"You're kidding. Everyone hates that thing when it's powered down. We use that to pick on rookies."

"Hey, my legs feel like rubber, you know."

"Fine," he sighed while shrugging. "Suit yourself."

* * *

No one was kidding when they say that they hate wearing the EX-Gear powered down. Moving in it was like strapping twenty kilogram weights to each leg. I was only at five laps around the hangar bay and my legs already felt like lead. I was soaked like a sponge that was just pulled out of water.

"Hey, Lockhede!" someone would sometimes take notice of the absurdity but I would not bother replying. It was Leon who seemed to be trying to convince me to stop. He was constantly shaking his head every time I turned toward him. I would just faced him with a look that asked "What?"

"You know, you should take this time to chill, instead of walking around in that thing."

"Well, this is what I call chilling," I answered. "By the way, where's my plane?"

"Over there."

I looked at the direction of his finger. He was serious when he said it was out of commission. It was hanging – there was a heavy chain around each shoulder, keeping it suspended from the metallic ceiling. It was too damaged to even transform. There was a gaping hole in its torso where the nose section of the plane should have been. Apart from that, both legs had been removed. Burn marks and deep gashes decorated the rest of the body. Numerous welding sparks indicated that repairs were well under way, but it will take time. It might just as well be rebuilt from scratch.

"When will it be operational again?" I asked, knowing that the answer wouldn't be something I wanted to hear.

A voice came from behind me. "A long time, I'm sure."It was Ryusei Oza, Spade Squadron Leader, again, arms folded across his chest. "You do know why you're piloting that thing right?"

"To survive. I know. I know."

"Don't make me remind you again," he added. "Oh, and what in the world are you doing in that get-up?"

"I... uh... work-out...? At least, trying to work out..."

"You're as crazy as ever. You're the only one I've seen actually using that thing for a purpose other than flying."

"Yeah, well... I'm not exactly someone who drowns in the crowd. And speaking of crazy, I'd like to challenge you to a dogfight in the simulator."

He laughed, while Leon stood horrified with his jaw hanging. When he finally calmed down a bit, he said, "Nice one kid."

"I'm not kidding. If I'm as crazy as you say, something like this wouldn't be a surprise."

"Alright then, meet at the simulator room in an hour. The loser treats the winner to a drink. Deal?" He held out his hand.

"Deal." I reciprocated and it was sealed.

Once Ryusei was out of sight, Leon pulled my arm and yelled in my ear. "HAVE YOU GONE LOCO? That's _Major_ Ryusei Oza. He's one of the first aces in SMS; he's even flown with Ozma Lee back in the military. Look, I know you've aced the simulator on difficult setting as a rookie, but this is still going to get your ass kicked."

"I'm well aware of that. Besides, I'm bored."

He threw his hands into the air, let out an exasperated sigh and walked away repeating, "You're hopeless." Unfortunately for me, he disappeared without even bothering to help me out of the exosuit.


	5. Chapter 5

Luckily Ryusei let me choose the battlefield, and I selected a city similar to the one on Island-1 except that it was derelict. It had lots of cover, which I intended to exploit if I were to actually avoid losing. I was nervous, put simply. I had only gone against the Major once during the final test before being accepted into SMS, and it wasn't pretty. I always ended up in his sights whatever maneuver I tried. Hopefully, that wouldn't be the case this time.

"You ready to get whooped, kid?" He looked and sounded overconfident. That was a good thing – or at least I thought so.

"We'll see who gets whooped!" I returned his overconfidence with more of my own. Whether it was good or bad, I didn't know. But I was about to find out. He expressed his amusement over that comment.

The screens came to life with a full 360-degree view of the desolate cityscape. We started in the air head-to-head, neither having the distinct advantage over the other. Then a countdown appeared: _3_... I fingered the instruments, making sure that my systems had him painted. The indicator on the Major's VF on my HUD changed from green to red, identifying him as hostile. _2_... I re-checked the armament on my fighter – the standard 30-mm Gatling cannon and a few missiles. _1_... I gripped both the joystick and the throttle, my fingers twitched in anticipation. I could feel my hands becoming damp from nervousness and excitement.

_GO!!_ I immediately pushed the throttle to full power, only to realize that the first thing the Major did was to go into GERWALK mode and fall. I cursed at my mistake as alarms went off followed by gunfire. I turned on the afterburners to try and get out of range. Ryusei followed suit by transforming back into fighter mode. The missile lock warning on my instruments lit up, followed by an alarm. Two missiles were coming straight at me. I dived into a highway and went into GERWALK mode to slow down my descent. Both missiles barely missed me and crashed on asphalt just behind my plane, throwing it forward. I was able to regain control just as gunfire erupted around me again, further ripping the already cratered street. I had to get behind cover before I get turned to Swiss cheese. I quickly manuevered the tight streets backwards unleashing my own volley of shells at the Major. Needless to say, he was able to dodge it all as he fired another pair of missiles in my direction. They missed and exploded into buildings on both sides of my path. I was relieved.

"You missed!" I taunted.

"Oh I wasn't aiming at you," came the unexpected reply. "Heads up!"

I looked up to see large chunks of concrete hurtling toward my fighter. I cursed again. My plane buckled under the force of the impact, but the damage was limited to dents thanks to the Valkyrie's energy conversion armor.

"Where's that cockiness now kid? I thought you were going to kick my ass?"

"Oh shut up!" The Major was clearly toying with me. I recovered from the rubble and went into battroid mode, immediately scrambling for cover behind a corner. _What have I gotten myself into? _I shook that thought out of my head and proceeded to scan the area. _Now, where are you?_ I moved from one run-down building to the next, trying to figure out where he was. I could not hear the roar of jet engines so he must have gone on land as well.

He continued taunting me over the radio. "Where are you kid?" He sniggered."Come out, come out, wherever you are."

I came to the end of the street – and it opened out into a wide road with no obstacles to hide behind. _Crud... Now what?_ _I'd be a sitting duck if I went across._ Then suddenly, the Major's voice rang in my ear at the same time a reticule popped to my left. "Aha!" _Shit!_ I commanded my battroid to boost upward by instinct, while the Major followed my movements with bullets. I fired another salvo from my position atop the building. He dodged but it was enough to trash his aim. By the time he re-aimed, I was already flying away.

_Damn it! Why am I the one running?_ I immediately swung my fighter around, guns ablazing and missiles primed. The shots tore through the building I had been on, catching Ryusei off-guard. It seemed that he hadn't expected me to be coming back. He threw his GERWALK forward into the highway, where five missiles were already moments from impact. They slammed into the pavement with such force, that it hurled him into the air like a rag doll.

"Nrrgh... Pretty good, kid." He was back in fighter mode.

"Your underestimation of my abilities will lead to downfall," I taunted.

"We'll see-" The channel was cut short as the screen went black, followed by the rotating SMS logo and a voice announcing–

"Emergency! Code Victor. All hands to level 3 battle stations!! Repeat: Code Victor. All hands to level 3 battle stations!!"

I immediately kicked the door open and jumped out of the simulator. Ryusei was already halfway out of the room.

"We'll finish this some other time. In the meantime, you're staying put. That's an order," he called out to me.

"Yes, sir," I yelled. I rolled my eyes. _Like I have a choice..._

I practically leapt out of my flight suit and pulled on my regular SMS overalls. I stunk from the sweat, but this was no time for a shower. I headed for the bridge.


End file.
